shortwave summary: mar 2006 (part 3)

Here are some easy catches from some favorite stations. I might exclude SIO codes from my future reception reports, because most of the time it's not relevant. If anyone has an opinion on this, please leave a comment. I mostly used my Eton E5 and Kaito 1102 for these receptions.

* China Radio International
* Radio Thailand
* Radio Havana Cuba
* Radio Taiwan International
* Voice of America

* 14 Mar 2006, 2304 UTC, 11970 khz (China Radio International): Milosevic will be buried in Serbia. A silicon valley electronics store (that's near me!) hosting a consumer rights event on Wednesday. China is ready for cross-strait talks with Taiwan under the One China principle. Isn't China always ready for that? National People's Congress approved China's 11th 5-year plan. "Can you trust the food you eat these days?" Food in China can be trusted due to market competition, according to a professor from China Agricultural university. A majority of cooking oils are genetically modified and imported. "So far, so good" regarding bird flu. The plan to prevent spreading involves killing any infected birds. Livestock producers have good regulations. There's a negative opinion of genetically modified foods in North America. SIO 444.

* 15 Mar 2006, 0000 UTC, 11885 khz (China Radio International): Hearing CRI (from Xian) with strong echo and lots of interference. I was looking for Radio Cairo. Lots of foreign language broadcasts in the 31 meter band at the moment. SIO 222.

* 0258 UTC, 5890 khz (Radio Thailand): "Radio Thailand's world service." Grandfather clock bells. Broadcasting from Bangkok. "For listeners in the United States west coast." (That's me!) Salary increases for employees of state-owned enterprises. Problems with stray animals. SIO 423; significant noise, some fading.

* 16 Mar 2006, 0527 UTC, 6000 khz (Radio Havana Cuba): President Bush vowed to turn Iraq over to Iraqi forces within a year. "Real progress in Iraq." A large number of airstrikes against Iraq recently. USA "making a mockery of international law." World Baseball Classic update. Mailbag show. They're sending a tourist map of Cuba to the son of a listener in England. Now I want one! SIO 444.

* 23 Mar 2006, 0519 UTC, 6000 khz (Radio Havana Cuba): Cuba's World Baseball Classic team got 2nd place and was welcomed home. They received a speech from Fidel Castro. Guatemala called for closure of torture centers used by the USA. RHC has a Spanish language broadcast on 5025 khz. Women are in the majority in RHC's english department. SIO 433.

* 24 Mar 2006, 0700 UTC, 5950 khz (Radio Taiwan International): "Broadcasting from Taipei, Taiwan, the Republic of China." Six Taiwanese allies will not attend a meeting hosted by China. China's "one country, two systems" policy is not for Taiwan. That was how Hong Kong and Macau were turned into special administrative regions of China. The defensive weapons purchase from the United States has been delayed so far for over a year. Taiwanese airlines increased fuel surcharges on international flights. This practice started in 2004 and was initially planned for just 3 months. Taipei weather for Friday: mostly cloudy with showers and thundershowers, with temperatures in the range of 17-20C (62-68F). Disposable chopsticks can contain sulphur dioxide, which can pose a health risk to those with asthma. Don't use chopsticks that are too white or that have a sour smell. Taking your own chopsticks can be good for your health, and reduces the need to harvest wood and bamboo. People "need to be aware and love the earth." About 50 restaurants offer discounts for customers that bring their own chopsticks. It will take the public a while to get used to it. This day in history: 23 March, 1983: Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union an evil empire. SIO 444.

* 25 Mar 2006, 2303 UTC, 11970 khz (China Radio International): Death toll for the coal mine accident rose to 23. Relations between China and Japan are at their lowest point in decades. Russia dismissed a Pentagon report claiming that Russians passed intelligence to Iraq at the beginning of the war in 2003; called it "groundless accusations". China appealed to the EU to reconsider anti-dumping tariffs related to shoes. Chinese products aren't being dumped on the market. Half of shoes sold in the EU last year were made in China. Ukraine elections on Sunday (26 March). Yuschenko's party is trailing; this could result in the first coalition government. Election fraud and human rights violations in Belarus. Beijing weather: sunny with increasing clouds, 2-16C (35-60F). SIO 555.

* 29 Mar 2006, 0107 UTC, 9570 khz (China Radio International): This broadcast for North America comes from Albania, for some reason. I didn't listen very long because of poor signal quality. I heard part of a story about peer pressure. SIO 322.

* 0405 UTC, 9575 khz (Voice of America): Africa News Now show. Immigrant children in America integrate quickly, but it's harder for their parents. Baseball player Marquis Grissom announced his retirement after performing poorly in spring training. Iran is believed to be 6-9 months from perfecting the uranium enrichment process. Bombing Iran would not eliminate its nuclear program, because facilities are deep underground and scattered throughout the country. "The population overwhelmingly likes America." Angola overtook Saudi Arabia in February as China's top oil supplier. Daybreak Africa show. Nigerian president will meet with President Bush at the White House on Wednesday (29 March). Senator Patrick Leahy recommends canceling the visit due to the escape of former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who was in exile in Nigeria. Taylor was to be transferred to Liberia to face war crimes charges. He's "a threat to regional security." Indictment was issued in March 2003. Special tourist visas were granted for viewing Wednesday's solar eclipse in northern Africa. A new VOA schedule takes effect on 03 April. SIO 444.

* 0500 UTC, 6060 khz (Radio Havana Cuba): Resistance fighters hit an Iraqi army recruitment center, causing 40 deaths. Thousands of students walked out of schools in Los Angeles, protesting immigration restrictions. Karl Rove could be indicted for conspiracy in the CIA identity leak case. A new female announcer is reading the local Cuba news. Editorial viewpoint: Americans reject criminalization and deportation of illegal immigrants. The United States itself was founded by immigrants. Declassified documents prove that Luis Posada Carriles was working with the CIA. (CO2KK) Arnie Coro's DXers Unlimited. Arnie was given a circuit board from a discarded mainframe computer and harvested hundreds of components (resistors, capacitors, etc) for homebrew projects. The geomagnetic field is expected to remain quiet for the next several days. When a Cuban says "newcomer", it sounds an awful lot like "cucumber". SIO 433; signal was weaker than usual, with some interference from 6055 khz.